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Harness or not, Nik Wallenda’s wirewalk across Niagara Falls will still be a spectacle worth watching, say some tourists. Others feel the precautionary device has dashed any excitement surrounding the much-anticipated June 15 event.

“I could see some people being disappointed, but it will still be something to see,” said Kim Andrews, of West Virginia.

“It won’t be as dramatic, but that’s a long way to walk and it’s not something you see often,” added her husband Michael.

ABC, which is presenting a three-hour special on the historic walk, has ordered Wallenda to wear a safety harness. The American has never before worn a harness for a walk, despite the fact his great-grandfather Karl died after falling from a tightrope in 1978.

“A lot of kids will be watching it, and it’s for his own safety,” said Cambridge resident Andrew Lloyd.

The decision, however, is not sitting well with Wallenda. But without ABC’s financial backing for the event, Wallenda said he won’t be able to perform.

“It’s disheartening — I wanted to do it without anything,” he told the Buffalo News on the weekend. “To me, it just personally takes away from it.”

Wallenda did not respond to interview requests Tuesday.

Rick Hemmerling, who was visiting Niagara Falls from Las Vegas Tuesday, said he’s no longer interested in watching the walk.

“It ruins everything,” he said. “You might as well let me go across. With no danger, there’s no excitement involved. I won’t be watching.”

ABC is not budging, however. When reached Tuesday, spokesman Jeffrey Schneider insisted there were “ongoing discussions” with Wallenda over wearing a harness.

“We had always made clear from the beginning that significant safety precautions would need to be taken. This is the outcome of that.”

Since the Niagara Falls walk was announced earlier this month, Wallenda has hinted there may be a harness. While speaking to students from Notre Dame Elementary School last week, he offhandedly revealed he’d be wearing a safety harness, but didn’t specify whether it would be for the whole walk.

That’s now the case.

Even with the harness, ABC insists the nighttime walk across the falls will be a special event.

“We are certain that this is still going to be a very dramatic, thrilling and exciting event that the whole country can gather around their TV sets and watch,” says Schneider. “When you factor in the walk at night, in the mist, and the length of the walk … it’s really an extraordinary effort.”

When asked if ABC was flat-out removing the risk of someone dying on live TV, Schneider said: “The answer to that question speaks for itself.”

Poll

Will you still watch the Nik Wallenda walk, or has the event lost its excitement because he has been ordered to wear a harness?